September 28, 2026 at 4:35 am

Homeowners Want To Build A Fence In Their HOA Neighborhood — A Neighbor Is Fighting To Stop It

by Jayne Elliott

cute dog in the grass with a ball

Shutterstock

There are a lot of stories about HOAs where the HOA is the bad guy, but this is a rare story where the neighbor is the bad guy and the HOA is actually the good guy.

All the homeowners want to do is build a fence so their dogs can safely run around their yard. The HOA is on board with their plans, but the neighbor next door is not.

He’s seriously not backing down, and this isn’t the first time he’s been so adamant about getting his way.

Keep reading for the whole story.

Neighbor suing us for building a fence on our property

My husband and I just moved from a townhouse to a single family home.

The sole purpose and driving force behind this move was to get a yard for our dogs.

We looked at many houses that were immediately ruled out due to not having a good yard.

This should’ve been a big red flag.

During due diligence, we had HOA come to our property to confirm that we were allowed to build a fence.

Our neighbor immediately walked outside and declared that he would be fighting it.

The HOA guy told him there wasn’t really anything he could do about it since we were following all of the rules.

I kind of brushed it off as just some cranky old man.

The neighbor stayed true to his word.

We moved in, submitted our fence request and our neighbor immediately started complaining to the board about our fence, threatening to sue if they approved it.

His main reason for being against the fence was that it would lower his property value.

Now we are not building some rusty chain linked fence. This is going to be a nice looking, four board horse fence (very common in our area).

He’s not backing down!

After it became clear that HOA was going to approve our fence, neighbor asked for a meeting with the entire board and hired an attorney.

Now for the past 3 week his attorney has been talking to the HOA attorneys about who knows what.

I’m just waiting for someone to show up with papers telling us we’ve been served.

The neighbor has been awful for a long time.

It is important to note that we are not the first neighbor he has sued.

The last HOA president also resigned after the NFH threatened him and his family. HOA president moved out of the neighborhood shortly after.

Also, his house has been for sale this entire time. Like the dude won’t even be living here soon and he’s still trying to sue.

I’m just so livid right now that I want to scream. I don’t even know what to do.

It’s pretty bad when a neighbor is so awful he drives the HOA president away!

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

Here’s some advice.

2026 09 23 at 1.06.27 PM Homeowners Want To Build A Fence In Their HOA Neighborhood — A Neighbor Is Fighting To Stop It

Another person thinks the neighbor sounds irrational.

2026 09 23 at 1.06.40 PM Homeowners Want To Build A Fence In Their HOA Neighborhood — A Neighbor Is Fighting To Stop It

Here’s a revenge idea.

2026 09 23 at 1.06.51 PM Homeowners Want To Build A Fence In Their HOA Neighborhood — A Neighbor Is Fighting To Stop It

But this person thinks the fence is a bad idea.

2026 09 23 at 1.07.04 PM Homeowners Want To Build A Fence In Their HOA Neighborhood — A Neighbor Is Fighting To Stop It

At least the neighbor is arguing with the HOA and not OP. It’s crazy that the neighbor cares so much about the fence when he’s selling his house. I definitely don’t think OP should do anything to get back at the neighbor. I’d actually do whatever I could to appease him and help him sell his house as quickly as possible so he gets out of there!

Depending on how quickly he sells his house, maybe they could wait to build the fence until he’s found a new homeowner.

The HOA is the MVP in this story.

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Jayne Elliott | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Jayne Elliott is a contributing writer and editor for TwistedSifter specializing in human interest stories, internet culture, and family dynamics. With over 12 years of editorial experience in digital publishing, Jayne excels at analyzing complex online communities and transforming viral social debates into thoughtful, highly engaging narratives.

Rather than simply aggregating internet drama, Jayne brings a sharp, empathetic editorial eye to everyday dilemmas. She has a unique talent for unpacking the nuances of pop culture and online conflicts, providing readers with relatable, well-researched commentary.

Based in California, Jayne spends her free time outside the newsroom exploring theme parks with her family or beach-combing along the coast.

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